A person’s social status will determine mental cruelty as a ground to grant a divorce decree, said the Supreme Court in its recent judgement.
“Mental cruelty and its effect cannot be stated with arithmetical exactitude. It varies from individual to individual, from society to society and also depends on the status of the persons,” said a Bench of Justices SJ Mukhopadhaya and Dipak Misra. The Bench was deciding a divorce plea of a Bangalore-based doctor couple.Although trial court decreed divorce in favour of the wife, the Karnataka High Court reversed the order and held that cruelty was made out against the husband forcing the wife to approach the apex court.
Analysing the evidence, the court was not convinced with the wife’s plea that her husband’s relatives used to interfere in the day-to-day affairs of their life. The Bench said, “That apart, the communications, after the decree for restitution of conjugal rights, indicate the attitude of the wife as if she is playing a game of chess.
From this kind of attitude and treatment, the court inferred that the husband was treated with mental cruelty and he faced ignominy being an Associate Professor at a medical college. “When one enjoys social status working in a Government hospital, this humiliation affects the reputation,” the court said.
The husband had sought divorce alleging that he was subjected to humiliation and was dragged into matrimonial disputes along with his relatives, which amounted to mental cruelty. The Bench said, “We are disposed to think that the husband has reasons to feel that he has been humiliated, for allegations have been made against him which are not correct.”
The court drew strength from an instance where he and his parents were ignored in the naming ceremony of the couple’s son. In another case, he learnt from others that his wife had gone to Gulbarga to “prosecute her studies.”